Johnny Hartman was a World War II veteran who happened to possess a voice so rich and authoritatively smooth that you can't imagine anyone ever saying "no" to it. Jazz instrumentalists—John Coltrane, in particular—loved him for his tone, and his peers regarded his voice with an esteem usually reserved for horns or pianos. Over the course of his 40-year career, Hartman proved himself a master interpreter of the Great American Songbook, extracting soul from any sheet music ever placed in front of him.